We started our morning in Erdene Dalai, and had quite the experience with breakfast. They don't really believe in plates here in Mongolia...and trying to 'treat' the Westerners, they made us hotdogs with mayo and coleslaw for breakfast, along with huushuur, a Mongolian meatpie of sheep stomach and onions. Now, I'm not terribley keen on American hotdogs, let alone Mongolian hotdogs, not to mention there is something really disturbing about eating one in the desert that road with you in a vehicle for hours (not in any kind of cooler) and is being served with coleslaw and GOBS of mayo at 7am!!!! I passed. I did accept some tea and huushuur. It was....not very good. Kind of like how all the other food here is not very good. But I ate one, so there!
We spent some time in the village with the people before heading back towards Ulaanbataar---there is nothing like it here!
As we headed out and said goodbye, I really wished we could stay out in the desert for a few more days, of all the places & people the desert culture was my favorite by far. I definately plan to come back. Down the road, not to far, was a herd (?) of camels! 
As you can see, this was very VERY exciting--we even petted some of them (the ones not running around and making hissing noises, the smaller ones!) Camels are very cool but gosh do they stink!!!
We got back in the car and continued our ridiculous 8 hour drive back to Ulaanbataar (remember, this is like driving rail road tracks non-stop at 45mph ALL DAY!!) As you can imagine, there are no rest stops in the middle of the desert, and unfortunately, nature still calls. Even more unfortunate is the fact that the desert is a very very open, barren place, and we were sharing nature calls with 11 guys.... Nothing bonds women together much like walking until you're a dot and doing your thing in the desert, on sand. This was really really akward and uncool, but I would rather go in the desert then most of those outhouses anyday!!!
Several hours outside the city, we stopped at Snake Mountain to stretch our legs and climb around (obviously this was the guys idea). I have to admit, while I am no outdoorsmen (outdoorswoman?) this was breathtaking-I even climbed halfway up the mountain!!! This was the view from the top...
It doesn't look like it, but it was very tall (this is the tiny side we climbed up) and kind of steep....
Below, there was a pool of water with a herdsman and his horses-out in the middle of nowhere in the desert, crazy!!
After about 2 hours, we piled back in and heading back to the guest house in Ulaanbataar in time for a shower before bed and some blogging!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment